A bill that would have toughened animal torture laws in Iowa is not going to make it out of the legislature this year.

Proponents said the bill would better define abuse and torture of dogs and cats and make it easier to identify animal cruelty.

Advertisement

It passed the Senate but died in the House. Advocates said they will try again next year because Iowa is lagging behind the rest of the country regarding laws protecting animals.

One of the supporters is a woman who claimed her ex-boyfriend killed her dog and wound up getting a slap on the wrist. This bill would give prosecutors more options to level penalties.

Bambi the Chihuahua and his human, Paige Belieu, were inseparable.

"I still think about him all the time and miss him. I feel like I'll never not miss him," said Belieu.

Trey Sudbrock was Belieu's boyfriend and told her rolled over on the dog in bed.

A report from the veterinary lab at Iowa State University determined that Bambi died of an acute spinal cord laceration with severe cranial hemorrhaging.

"Snapped his neck basically, just picked him up and snapped his neck," said Belieu.

In court, Sudbrock pleaded guilty to animal abuse. He received a two-year suspended prison sentence and a $625 fine.

"I feel like justice hasn't been served at all, but I feel like there's nothing I can do about it," said Belieu.

"We're seeing a lot of suspended sentences to where the charges are even dropped," said Josh Colvin of the Animal Rescue League.

He said he had high hopes for the bill introduced this year in the Senate that would have created clear definitions of what is neglect, abuse, and torture of an animal.

The bill also added psychological evaluations for offenders and provided harsher penalties for repeat offenders -- those who harm dogs and cats in the presence of children.

"We're talking simple misdemeanors on a lot of these charges, I mean simple misdemeanors," said Colvin.

The bill only governs cats and dog and does not include livestock.

"There still is pushback from agriculture on this thinking. It'll get in our door someway but it absolutely had all the safeguards to protect them and I don't see a reason this bill didn't get a hearing in the House this year," said Colvin.